SCANDINAVIAN CETACEA. 285 



outlet for the water. The bones were in the lowest part, in three lots, generally without any 

 order, except the three dorsal vertebrae, a couple of lumbo-sacral vertebræ, the lower arm-bone 

 and the hand-bones which were in their natural position to each other. They were some 2' — 4" 

 deep, sometimes with the points a little higher. The distance from this place to the sea-shore is 

 840 feet, and the height of the field above the sea is about 12 to 15 feet. The layers of earth 

 on this place are, first a layer of mould about 9" thick ; next, deeper, a thicker layer of coarse 

 gravel and rounded stones ; under this a thin layer of fine sand (not writing sand, however) ; and 

 under this a layer of fine blue clay, sometimes looser, sometimes firmer, in places so loose and 

 deep "that a bar of iron 5 feet long could easily be run down without meeting any firmer 

 layer. This clay rested in some places on gravel and round stones, and in some on solid rock ; 

 in some places it was deeper than in others, sometimes 2' and sometimes about 4' deep. The 

 greater part of the bones were on the top of the clay, where it was deepest below the surface. 

 Some were partly surrounded by the clay, and were in a better state of preservation ; some of 

 the lighter bones, such as the scapula, the cervical vertebræ, the lower arm-bones, and the hand 

 bones were at a small depth in the coarse sand. There wei'e a great number of shells (mostly broken) 

 of Tellina balthica, Linn., and Mytilus edidis, Linn., in the sand about the bones, and there appeared 

 sometimes streaks in the sand of a blueish colour, from crushed shells of the latter. These shells 

 resembled those of the same species that now live in the Baltic, from which it appears that the 

 sea is still of the same nature as it was at the time when this whale was stranded. The shells of 

 Mytilus edidis were small and thin. The shells found seem to indicate that the sea extended 

 thus far up, at the time when the bones were covered up. 



As there was no tradition in the neighbourhood about this whale, and it was believed that 

 the vertebra first discovered had belonged to a giant, and as there were no signs on the bones to 

 indicate that the whale had been cut up by men, it is probable that Graso was covered, 

 at least in greater part, by water, and was not inhabited at the time when this whale was thrown 

 ashore. As dead whales, in a decomposing state, always remain floating in consequence of the 

 formation of gas within, and drift about on the seas, at least in the smaller seas, until they are 

 thrown on some shore, it is reasonable to suppose that this whale either stranded or was thrown 

 ashore, and that it did not sink to a bottom of any great depth after decomposition. The 

 place where the bones were found must, in the latter case, have been the bottom of the sea at 

 that time. The circumstance that the shells were found about and under the bones contradict 

 such an opinion, because the molluscous animals belonging to them live in shallow water near the 

 shore. Taking the considerable size of the whale into consideration, it is evident that it could not 

 have swam in less than 6' — 8' water. As the place where the bones were found is 12 — 15 feet 

 above the usual level of the sea, the sea must, when this whale stranded, have been about 20' 

 higher than at present, or, agreeable to other similar observations, the shore must have risen about 

 20 feet. A sinking of the land 20 feet will not cause any such direct communication between 

 the White Sea and the Baltic, that sea animals like whales could pass from the one to the other. 

 There may, however, be some mistake in the calculation of the elevation of the shore from the 

 position of the bones. As heretofore no whale like this, as far as is known, has been found on 

 the western or north-western coasts of Europe, I have expressed an opinion that it might have 

 come from the Polar Sea or the White Sea. If this should be the case, this species, if yet living, 

 must be looked for in the Polar Sea north of Russia and Siberia. But we do not require such 

 explanations for the circumstance that an unknown species of whale was found on Graso. 



